Although somewhat "pellet picky", it gives good accuracy with the right pellets. Muzzle velocity is far higher than the manufacturer's claims and the finish is very good for the money.

The heavy cocking effort means that this is not an all day plinker or a kid's air rifle. But it would make a great squirrel hunter, so long as you don't need a silenced airgun.

Its overall abilities and competitive price make the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle a HAM Silver Award winner.

73%

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Full Review

VALUE FOR MONEY

At a Street Price of $130, the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle plays in a very crowded marketplace.

There’s plenty of similarly-priced air rifles available from Benjamin, Crosman, Gamo, Umarex and others. And their specifications are mostly very similar: claimed 1,000 fps, break barrel, gas ram, single shot, included 4 x 32 scope etc. Choosing between so many similar models is not easy!

For some, the Beeman brand will carry weight when making that choice. Others may prefer the classic looks of this air rifle compared to others.

Clearly the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle is a competitive product in this price range. It’s not a stand out on specifications, but it’s not clear that many of its competitors are either.

However, the test results of the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle reviewed by HAM show very good performance. Factor that performance into the buying equation and the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle scores well in HAM’s value for money analysis.

HAM Test Rating

73%

Value For Money

A good value air rifle that compares well to competitors at this price.

SPEED AND ACCURACY

The Beeman Gas Ram air rifle tested by HAM gave strong performance, reaching a maximum muzzle velocity of 1,222 FPS with 5.56 Grain H&N Field Target Trophy Green alloy pellets. This produced a high muzzle energy also at 18.43 Ft/Lbs.

Even with 7.0 Grain RWS Hobby lead pellets, muzzle velocity was 1,079 FPS, with muzzle energy – the measurement of “knock down power” – peaking at 18.81 Ft/Lbs.

The best accuracy was obtained using the 5.56 Grain Field Target Trophy Green pellets. However, the accuracy of the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle tested by HAM was also excellent with the heaviest pellets tested, the 10.65 Grain H&N Baracuda Match pellets.

Probably more importantly, Crosman Premier Hollow Point pellets gave great accuracy in the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle also. This is important as these pellets are widely available at most big box sporting goods stores and Walmart. This means that they are the pellets most likely to be used with this gun by the average purchaser.

Pellet

Average Muzzle Velocity

Average Muzzle Energy

Accuracy

Gamo Raptor Platinum 4.7 Grain

1220.91 FPS

14.79 Ft/Lbs

Poor.

H&N Field Target Trophy Green 5.56 Grain

1222.01 FPS

18.43 Ft/Lbs

Excellent. Best tested.

RWS Hobby 7.0 Grain

1079.43 FPS

18.81 Ft/Lbs

Poor.

Crosman Premier HP 7.9 Grain

1012.71 FPS

17.98 Ft/Lbs

Excellent.

JSB Exact Diabalo 8.44 Grain

915.13 FPS

15.68 Ft/Lbs

Good.

H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain

961.30 FPS

17.72 Ft/Lbs

Good.

H&N Baracuda Match 10.65 Grain

881.86 FPS

18.38 Ft/Lbs

Excellent.

As you can see from the test targets below, accuracy was better with some pellets than others. This means that the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle can be considered somewhat “pellet picky”, but that good accuracy can be achieved once the right pellets are found.

TRIGGER AND COCKING EFFORT

The trigger pull weight of the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle tested by HAM averaged 5 Lbs 4 Oz. The wide trigger blade made it feel subjectively lighter to the HAM testers.

This is around average for a break barrel air rifle. It’s heavy, but there are other models that have a much heavier pull weight.

Trigger pull is long. The trigger is described as an RS2, 2-stage adjustable design. But the first stage on this gun was very short, giving a long pull until the sear released. It almost felt like a single stage trigger. A long first stage and short second stage would be much better.

Although the RS2 trigger is adjustable by means of two screws, located forward and aft of the trigger blade, the instruction manual supplied with the gun provides no indication of how to make any adjustments. As HAM tests guns with the trigger in “as received” condition, we did not attempt to make any adjustments for this test review.

The obligatory automatic safety is situated conveniently in front of the trigger blade. It’s easy to operate, simply push forward with the trigger finger immediately before taking the shot.

Cocking effort for the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle tested by HAM measured 42 Lbs. This is fairly stout and, being a gas ram action, the effort is equally hard throughout the cocking cycle (unlike a spring/piston air rifle). However, cocking was quite smooth.

The high cocking effort means that this is not an all day plinker, or an air rifle for kids or those with low upper-body strength. Yes, you can plink with it for a while, but you’ll soon get tired. For hunting, of course, this is not such a problem as relatively few shots are fired. The Beeman Gas Ram air rifle would make a great squirrel gun!

COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS

The 1,222 FPS achieved with alloy pellets is waaaaaaay higher than the manufacturer’s claim of 1,000 FPS. And the maximum muzzle velocity achieved with lead pellets – 1,079 FPS – also significantly exceeded the manufacturer’s claims.

The claimed weight of the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle is 8.5 Lbs. Wood stocks always vary in weight between different examples of the same gun due to the density of each piece of wood. It’s a naturally-occurring material, after all. But the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle tested by HAM was considerably lighter than the spec, weighing-in at exactly 8 Lbs 0 Oz with scope mounted.

Beeman is one of the very few airgun manufacturers to publish an accuracy specification for their air rifles. The accuracy claim for the 1051GP is 0.20-inches CTC (Center-To-Center) at 10 Meters. Unfortunately this specification is not accompanied by an indication of shot count or the pellets used. Larger shot counts inevitably give larger groups. The factory spec is probably for a 5-shot group, however.

The best group size achieved by the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle tested by HAM was 0.5-inch x 0.375-inch at 10 yards. This is an indication that the factory claim is not impossible to achieve with an accurate shooter and the right pellets.

CONSISTENCY

The Beeman Gas Ram air rifle demonstrated good consistency in muzzle velocity testing.

The Standard Deviation (a mathematical calculation of consistency) averaged 10 FPS over the whole of the standard HAM pellet test suite. However the best achieved was 3.16 FPS with the heavy Baracuda Match pellets. This is very good for any gas ram-powered air rifle. Overall, muzzle velocity consistency is better than you would expect from an air rifle in this price range.

Muzzle energy varied between 14.79 Ft/Lbs and 18.81 Ft/Lbs and was pellet-dependent. Again, this is quite consistent and showed that the design is not tailored primarily to very light, or heavy pellets.

The trigger pull weight was also fairly consistent at plus or minus 8 ounces around the tested average of 5 Lbs 4 Ozs. This is not the trigger consistency of a $1,000 air rifle, but, after all, the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle sells for just $129!

Only the “pellet pickiness” really hurt the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle tested by HAM in the consistency analysis.

NOISE LEVEL

The Beeman Gas Ram air rifle has no silencer or shroud. So, it’s never going to match a silenced gun for quietness.

Subjectively, the HAM team felt that the noise level was about average for an air rifle of this power. The gas ram gives a different pitch to the noise, compared to a conventional spring/piston action. As HAM tester Paul Manktelow wrote in his testing notes: “The sound of firing has more of a thunk. It’s a lower-pitched sound than the twang of spring/piston gun.”

And then, with a maximum muzzle velocity of well above the Speed of Sound (that’s about 1,100 FPS), there’s a loud sonic boom caused when firing high muzzle velocity alloy pellets. This is not a fault of the gun, it’s inevitable with such high muzzle velocities. This means the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle can be LOUD!

Choose heavier, slower, lead pellets to minimize noise levels in the field.

SIGHTS AND SCOPE

The Beeman Gas Ram air rifle is fitted with fiber optic open sights. The rear sight is adjustable for elevation and windage.

But, realistically, very few people will use the open sights, they’ll shoot with a scope.

The scope supplied with the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle is a standard-specification 4 x 32 bundled scope. There’s no Adjustable Objective (AO) and no mil-dot reticle to help with holdover when shooting at varying ranges. At least the turrets do not need a tool to adjust!

But there was a surprise….

The scope supplied with the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle tested by HAM certainly seemed to be a cut above the “run of the mill” bundled 4 x 32 scopes found with many budget-priced air rifles. Image quality was surprisingly good and mechanically, the scope seemed better than average, too.

And there was another surprise benefit with this scope, too. With care, it’s possible to unscrew the outer ring of the scope and then turn the front lens mount until the sharpness at your chosen range is improved. It’s a sort of “unofficial AO”. HAM tester Paul Manktelow did this for this HAM test review and found it made a big improvement to the sharpness at 10 yards. See photo below.

NOTE.Not all scopes have this rotatable front ring capability. The scopes of other Beeman Gas Ram air rifles may not be so equipped. So if you try this it’s at your own risk! If the front ring of the scope doesn’t rotate easily, it’s probably glued in place and can’t be moved. HAM accepts no responsibility for damage caused to scopes by attempting this action and you’ll undoubtedly void the manufacturer’s warranty also.

The scope rings supplied with the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle tested by HAM were as expected at this price. No scope movement was experienced during the HAM shooting tests, largely due to the solid external scope stop that’s attached to the compression tube.

SHOOTABILITY

Overall, the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle shoulders well and is easy to hold on target. The soft rubber buttpad is grippy and well-shaped. This is a significant aid to practical accuracy as it stops the gun from sliding on the shooter’s shoulder, thus changing the cheek weld.

The light weight and manageable recoil mean that this is fairly easy to shoot for an airgun of this power level. Only the heavy cocking and long trigger pull really limit the number of shots that a shooter would wish to make in one session.

But note that the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle is really not suitable as a youth airgun or for those of us who find a 42 Lb cocking effort somewhat like a workout at the gym!

The good accuracy with ubiquitous Crosman Premier Hollow point pellets is another clear benefit for the shootability of the Overall, the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle shoulders well.

The RateAGun shootability score of 9.9 indicates that experience is required to obtain the best results from the 1051GP – as is true for almost all other break barrel air rifles.

APPEARANCE AND FINISH

Metal parts of the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle have a matt (satin – like) finish that’s consistent and even.

The wood stock was close-grained and a pleasing color – at least to the HAM test team. The stock style is simple with a classic Monte Carlo comb that gives a good cheek weld.

There’s no doubt that the wood finish is very good. The only negative the HAM team could see is that the stock finish is so good that it’s a little slippery to hold!

BUYING AND OWNING

The Beeman Gas Ram air rifle is easy to buy. It’s widely available at many “big box” sporting goods stores and online through the usual leading retailers such as Pyramyd Air, Airgun Depot and Amazom.

A useful 16-page user’s manual provided with this airgun. Although this is a generic manual and not specific to the Beeman Gas Ram air rifle, it gives much good advice and has clear illustrations. There’s also a separate instruction sheet that covers mounting and sighting-in the scope, together with care of the optics.

These instructions, in particular the “Troubleshooting” section, give clear signs that they were written by someone very knowledgeable about air rifles. The downside is that all the written material is in English only, there’s no Spanish version.

Oh, and there’s one other thing. Those plastic caps that sit over the front stock screws simply pry off, they’re not a screw fit. So it’s actually easier that it might appear to remove them and check that the stock screws are tight. No special tools are required to do this.

TEST TARGETS

This entire article including scoring, test targets etc is Copyright Hard Air Magazine and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the publisher.